Abstract

Urban development and the gentrification that accompanies it have quickly become issues that cities face worldwide. Conventional theories surrounding the topic often state that development is a response to a market force. Academic work has focused mostly on how and why the process of gentrification takes place, but not the politics surrounding that process. It has also largely overlooked what happens when a community resists development, and if resistance is effective. This study serves to explore these issues in the case of the Triangle neighborhood in Montreal, what political forces allow gentrification to take place, and how communities resist. How residents and community groups have reacted to development in the Triangle was explored through interviews and reviewing documents. Resisting development may ultimately determine how the final product is shaped.